Senses
by Hallenee
Summary: Rayne ficlets. Previously posted separately. Rating may go up. Finally completed after a very long hiatus.
1. Numbers

Title: Numbers  
Author: Hallenee  
Disclaimer: Not mine. Not making any profit. It all belongs to the wonderful Joss!  
Rating: PG

Colours blurring, lights flashing, thoughts spinning faster and faster and faster. She was trapped. Caught up in this storm of feelings. Guilt, pain, joy, frustration. Nothing. It stopped. No spinning. No lights. Nothing. Just counting.

One, two, three, four, five. Switch. One, two, three, four, five. Switch.

Below the girl a man sat on a bench lifting weights in his hands. Up and down five times. Change hands. Five more. Change. The girl giggled distracting the man below her.

"Gorram it girl! What you all giggly over?" the gruff man asked, stooping his lifting for the briefest of moments.  
"They were scared by the numbers," the petite girl giggled whilst hanging upside down from the walkway she was on.  
"'Course they were! Numbers are scary things! Always frightened me," the man grunted back to the girl, not in the least bit worried about her position even though if a person moved the slightest bit then they would fall from there and possibly kill themselves. Then again she wasn't a normal girl and he had no doubt she would be alright. She always was.

The two people sat, or hung, in silence save for the grunts from the man with each rep. The silence was broken, however, by the entrance of an irate captain looking to kill his mercenary.

"JAYNE! 'Ello lil albatross. That can't be all that comfortable up there. You wanna get down?" the captain inquired trying to persuade the little female off of her perch. She just giggled.

"Mal... I ain't done nothing!" the man called Jayne said to try and calm down the captain. Or at least save himself from the airlock. That did seem to be his favourite punishment. The girl giggled again, this time at Jayne's thoughts.

"You wanna tell me then why I got pictures all over my bunk of well endowed women. Pictures that I've seen in your bunk!" River giggled again, "Especially when these all have Inara's face on them!"

"They ain't got nothing to do with me Mal! I swear! All my girls are still in my bunk!" the merc insisted. Perhaps too much. The river girl giggled again at the faces of the two men and especially the thoughts.

"You got something to say lil witch?" the captain asked getting slightly suspicious of the dancer currently acting like a bird in a nest.

"The boy with a girl's name didn't need them anymore. The captain being a boob does though," with that the girl let go of the metal pole she was holding on to and flipped onto the cargo bay floor before skipping away leaving one flushed captain and a mercenary roaring with laughter.


	2. Watching

Title: Watching  
Author: Hallenee  
Disclaimer: Not mine. Not making any profit. It all belongs to the wonderful Joss!  
Rating: PG

He had been watching her for weeks now. She could feel his eyes on her. Hear him. He wasn't a subtle creature. She was surprised no one else had noticed him.

He hadn't noticed that she had noticed. He hadn't noticed that she had been watching him back. She wasn't surprised that no one else had noticed her either. She was trained for this.

The man had always watched the girl, for different reasons at different times. At first it was out of curiosity. Then she had sliced his chest and it was from anger. After the events at the hospital it was out of pity. Then after the incident on Miranda it was out of admiration. It was only recently that she noticed his eyes were watching her for an entirely different reason.

The man could tell you exactly when he started watching her in this way. It was after she had filled the captain's bunk with his pictures. He had laughed at that. The captain couldn't tell her off either. At least not without telling the whole crew what was going on. The girl had a great sense of humour. She was less crazy now as well. Plus she could fight. She was a weapon. An incredibly attractive weapon. It wasn't right though. Him watching her. She wasn't a girl but not yet a woman either. If anyone noticed him then he would be dead. He thought he was being subtle in his watching. That was until the girl came to him one evening during dinner when she had leant over to grab some bread and whispered in his ear, "I'm watching you too,"


	3. TShirt

Title: T-Shirt

Rating: PG

Disclaimer: I'm only borrowing them for a bit…

Summary: Jayne reminisces and River steals.

Certain smells always reminded him of certain places and times in his life. Apples always made him think of his grandma. Old Nan Cobb made a mean Apple Crisp. Won all the country shows for it. Engine was a smell that belonged to his first kiss. Her Pa owned the only garage on the planet he was born on.

River though, she smelt of spring; pretty flowers, lambs, calves. She especially reminded him of picnics with his Ma and older brother and his little sisters. Spring was the season he liked best back at home.

Jayne couldn't get enough of River's smell. It was comforting. The women on board were beginning to notice something was off with him. How he managed to sit next to her at every meal. How he would walk unnecessarily close to her. Of course none of them minded. Kaylee thought it to be sweet, Inara though it was good for River to be treated like a woman and Zoë thought he was treating her like one of his girls.

River didn't mind either. She couldn't understand his memories associated with different smells but she liked his. It was all Jayne. She was glad she had her own room. Simon would never find the T-Shirt she'd stolen from Jayne's bunk today to keep her company at night. Until he was ready to…


	4. Gun Shot

Series: Senses

Title: Gun Shot

Rating:

Summary: Jayne's realisations.

The first time he had touched her was one of the most dramatic moments in his life. They were on a job that was very quickly going south. The buyer had a gun pointed at Jayne's chest and pulled. Jayne hadn't been hurt though because the crazy girl had jumped in front of him, shot the man dead and received a bullet in the stomach for her troubles. He had had to carry her back to the ship and into the infirmary.

The second time he touched her was also as dramatic, although for a different reason. Zoë had cornered Mal whilst Kaylee was distracting the doc – he didn't want to know how. Inara had given him a small smile and pushed him towards the infirmary.

He had never seen anything as fragile or beautiful as the woman on the bed. He sat down beside her as she opened her eyes. Her big brown eyes, full of life.

"Hi," he managed to get out. It wasn't fair him acting like a teenager with his first crush. He'd out grown that long ago.

"Hello," the frail creature on the bed replied, her hair spread out around her making her look like an angel. He couldn't resist her. His hand moved of its own accord to stroke her chin. His other hand started to run its fingers through her hair.

"Why? Gorram it girl, why? You shouldn't have jumped in the way! I'm bigger than you, I can handle it better!" he growled at her, realising how protective he was of her. He didn't wait for her answer, had she been able to give one, he wrapped his arms around her and pulled her close. He had to reassure himself that she was here and alive and fine.

The third time he had touched her was in the middle of the night a few days later when her wound had healed. Everyone else was sleeping but he couldn't. He thought everyone else was, until that was, two bare feet appeared down his hatch. These were followed by two lean and subtly muscular legs, a tiny waist and a gorgeous face. She glided over to his bunk and pulled herself on to it to lie next to him. She said nothing and neither did he. There was nothing to be said. His hand caressed her face and neck. They moved down across her chest to rest at her waist. He realised he loved her.

His hands were still there when morning came.


	5. Chocolate

She tasted like chocolate. He wasn't sure how. Chocolate was expensive and they hadn't been near a core world where they could buy it in months. Her brother's funds had been frozen as well so there was no way he could afford to buy any, nor any other member of the crew.

It made him want her more. That rich and rare taste that was so irresistible. He couldn't get enough of her. That divine taste. He could understand why Inara had chosen to become a companion if she got gifts like this from her clients. He could also understand why, back on Earth-That-Was women demanded it form men as part of the courting ritual. He vaguely remembered old Ma Cobb drilling them into his head in the hopes that one day he would settle down and find a wife. His Ma never expected it to be him that got hooked on it.


End file.
